My day in the lab begins at around 10 am. As I mentioned in my week one blog post, my day typically revolves around trial and error. Although I am getting much better at using MATLAB, I continue to refer to online documentation, or textbooks that my secondary mentor provided to me, in order to properly use commands.
After starting up MATLAB, I usually just pick up where I left off the day before. I always have my lab notebook present in case I need to organize my thoughts, or plan my approach. Another technique I use – and recommend – is to think about code in the most rudimentary steps. Although computers are extremely sophisticated machines, they cannot predict our thoughts. I’m constantly thinking to myself, “ I need to take that variable from over there, manipulate it, and place it over here.” This thought process has really helped me understand how MATLAB, and code, works.
Whenever I complete a small segment of my project, I touch base with my secondary mentor to make sure I am going on the right track. I also speak to him whenever I think of another possible method to accomplish a desired goal. Although I am working with code, I still try to challenge myself by thinking of questions or different methods to achieve a task. It’s also important for me to never lose sight of the end goal, whenever I feel sidetracked or stuck with a segment of code. I leave lab anywhere between 5 pm and 7 pm, and I always make a note to myself in my lab notebook about where I left off.
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